The comparative analysis of legislative process with respect to three important variables indicates that Kenyan legislature is at better status as compared to Ethiopian parliament. Continuous improvements of Kenyan legislature put the country as emerging legislator or even beyond while the Ethiopian parliament remained at rubber stamp position. Among other chronic shortage human resource in the area of research and skills for policy analysis that are essential for supporting the key legislative functions ,lack of attention to empower parliament and path dependency ,lack of awareness and low level of education among HPRs as well as community , poor information systems, lack of plurality or poor competition ,absence of think tank and research institute in relative term , lacks clear frameworks and procedure in the involvement of the public in the legislative process, restrictive proclamation to the role of CSO mistrust between government and civil society , ,lacks a well developed information technology system to give all the public access to hearings low level of education among HPRs , poor information systems, lack of adequate professionally staff skilled in research and analysis ,lack of strong institutional autonomy, inadequate remunerations and allowances for MPs as well as the absence of legislative assistants, absence of CSO and strong political pressure groups that can influence government policy and dominance of ruling party lack of culture to involve in public dialogue, and active citizenship added with an ambiance of withdrawal and self-censorship, biases and lack of civic activism poor salary ,poor coordination and lack of trust with CSO are attributed to poor result of parliament policy making process by the Ethiopian as compared to Kenya .
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Legislature (Parliament) has a crucial role to play in ensuring Good Governance in a democratic structure like Pakistan. However, evidence has shown that the legislature in Pakistan is weak and thus cannot effectively performed its functions of representation, law making and oversight. This weak legislature is directly impacting Good Governance in Pakistan. The parliament or legislature plays an important role in the life of a nation. It thus perform three main functions: I. Make new laws, change existing laws and repeal laws which are no longer needed. II. Represent and articulate the views and wishes of the citizens in decision making processes. III. Oversee the activities of the executive so that the government is accountable to the people. Achieving good governance requires the existence of a strong, effective and efficient parliament. This study therefore examined the roles and responsibilities of the Legislative Arm of the Government in ensuring good governance. Structural-functionalism will form the theoretical basis or frame work for this paper. It is a review with data drawn largely from secondary sources. This research paper contends that there is a direct link between legislation and good governance.
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Nigerian legislative profile is locked in the whole content of the history and nature of the nation itself with its attendant issues of colonial manipulations, pluralistic coloration, military megalomania, and a tumultuous and highly unpredictable democratic experience. No singular framework can account for the legislative drama which is usually epitomized by avalanche of scandalous explosion of corruption, proliferation of inefficiency, political ineptitude and the domination by an oligarchic few who kept recycling themselves and their cronies in the parliament. This paper grapples with the challenges of the national assembly in transparency cum accountability in the use of public fund. The paper reveals that the most members of the national assembly have failed to demonstrate integrity, self-control, and patriotism in the management of the affairs of the house; rather, they display hedonistic tendencies and unbridled appetite for power, materialism and wantonness. The paper concluded that the institution is an assemblage of less than sterling personalities with strong resolve to ensure the use of the institution as a springboard for unscrupulous acquisitions.
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Public Policy and Administration Research
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The legislature is the most notable symbol of democracy, which is a veritable arm of government in a democracy is a catalyst of socio-economic development. It’s worth is measured not only by the quality of intellectual debate in the parliament but also by the attraction of constituency projects such as roads, electricity, industries among other which aid development. The central subject of this project is to appraised strengths and weaknesses of the Borno State House of Assembly. Towards this end, it explored the legislative behavior, process and organization to determine the problems and prospect inherent in the Borno State House of Assembly. The methodology adopted is through the use of primary and secondary source of data using questionnaires and documentations. One hundred and six sets of structured questionnaires were sent out to target participants namely; career civil servants and law makers. The system theory with particular reference to David Easton Political System model of Analysis was adopted. The major finding is that the Borno State House of Assembly is deficient in Representation, Law-making and Oversight Responsibilities. This is evident in the insecurity the state is currently facing. Instead of exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste by government ministries, department, the assembly itself is enmeshed in corruption and inept. Most laws passed originated from the executive. The assembly failed in its enormous responsibilities of enhancing “good governance” and being a catalyst for socio-economic development in the state because it is bedevilled by a poor resources base that bother on inadequate supportive staff, lack of financial autonomy, absence of state of the art equipment and above all, members that are inexperienced on legislative matters. The recommendations are the establishment of a legislative training institute, legislation assembly autonomy bill, eradication of loyalty to political parties instead the state or the constitution in the performance of legislative duties.
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Assessment of the Seventh Parliament of Ghana
In January 2018, Ghana celebrated 25 years of parliamentary democratic governance: the most enduring of all the Republican parliamentary democracies in the country’s history. While the last 25 years of multiparty parliamentary democracy in Ghana has been stable, it has had its own governance problems. For instance, since 1993, Ghana has almost become a two-party state, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) dominating and alternating power on a two four-year terms basis. This dominance by the two main political parties, coupled with some lapses in our 1992 constitution and Parliament’s apparent acquiescence to the Executive, appears to have compromised the oversight functions of the Ghanaian Parliament. In Ghana, bills, loans and infrastructural agreements mostly emanate from the President/Executive and must be approved by Parliament through a five-stage process of debate and committee assessments. This is one of the crucial functions of Parliament in terms of overseeing the activities of the Executive. Due to weaknesses in the oversight, representative and legislative roles of the Parliament of Ghana, Parliament it has come under scrutiny in recent times by civil society organisations, marginalized groups and other interest groups, including Odekro. The report begins with a focus on Speaker Oquaye’s agenda to transform Parliament. The Speaker, in his inaugural address following a unanimous approval by Parliament, mentioned a 9-point ambitious agenda he aims to achieve during this tenure. Odekro assesses the Speaker’s progress in this regard. Also, the report looks at the volume and speed of passage of Bills and policy priorities of Akufo-Addo’s government along specific sectors. It also evaluates the extent to which parliamentary committees engaged relevant publics in the consideration of important Bills. This is followed by gender related matters in Parliament and the dynamics of MP-Constituent relations. The final part of the report evaluates the absenteeism patterns of MPs and attempts an explanation for inability of Speakers to enforce Article 97(1)(c).
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